Status: Public Preview — behaviour may change.

What it does

Flowchart mode is a second way to see and edit a desktop flow in Power Automate for desktop. Actions appear as nodes on a canvas with edges showing the execution path, instead of the numbered list you get in sequence mode. It's the same flow underneath, so you can switch between the two.

Key facts

• Preview, rolling out gradually by region, so it may not be there for you yet.
• Sequence mode stays the default. In the Create a flow dialog you pick Flowchart mode (Preview) to start a flow that way, or use View to switch an existing flow.
• You can switch to flowchart mode only when the flow has no errors.
• An empty subflow shows a Start node, a stub edge and an insert button. Actions are added by dragging from the Actions pane, double-clicking, or using the + button on an edge.
• If and Switch actions show their branches visually, and you can reorder conditions and cases. Loop bodies take actions through the insert button on the right edge.
• The canvas has pan and zoom, a minimap (hidden when a subflow has no actions), a navigation toolbar, multi-select with cut, copy, move and delete, and Ctrl+B to open the subflow or flow a Run node points at.
• Normal debugging tools apply: breakpoints, error indicators on failed nodes, and the Errors pane at the bottom of the designer.

When to use / skip

Use it for flows with real branching, nested loops or lots of subflow calls, where the list view makes you hunt for what happens when a condition fails. Skip it for linear flows, or for anything going near production that your team has to maintain, until the preview is done.

Configuration decisions

• Whether the team standardises on one mode for review sessions. Mixed habits make walkthroughs awkward.
• Whether flowchart mode is allowed for flows that ship in managed solutions while it's still preview.
• Who's allowed to switch modes on someone else's flow, given the no-errors rule.

Gotchas

• Adding an action isn't transactional. The action is in the flow before its properties dialog opens, so cancelling the dialog leaves an empty action behind.
• Errors block the switch. A half-built flow with validation errors can't be opened as a flowchart, which is when you'd most want the picture.
• Preview terms apply. No production use and no support commitment, and region rollout means a colleague may not see what you see.
• The first group in a Switch can't move up. Small, but it catches people reordering cases.

Consultant notes

• Good for walkthroughs with business owners. Showing a flowchart in a UAT review gets better questions than reading a numbered list aloud.
• Don't let anyone start building estate-wide standards on a preview feature. Try it on a couple of complex flows and note what works.
• Source control and code review of desktop flows are unaffected, since the underlying flow is the same, but check that before you promise it.
• Rollout is gradual, so test in your actual region before building a demo around it.

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Review when flowchart mode reaches GA or becomes the default designer.